The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the colonial assembly, in addition to making laws, sat also as a judicial court of appeals. Before the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, it was called the Great and General Court, but the official title was shortened in the drafting of the state constitution by John Adams. It is a general legislature with plenary power to make law in and for Massachusetts. It is a bicameral parliament derived in some respects from the Westminster model. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate, comprising 40 members. The lower house, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members (until 1978, it had 240 members). It meets in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston.
Since 1959, Democrats have controlled both houses of the Massachusetts General Court, often by large majorities. The Democrats enjoyed veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers for part of the 1990s (i.e., enough votes to override vetoes by a governor) and also currently hold supermajorities in both chambers.
State senators and representatives both serve two-year terms. There are no term limits; a term limit was enacted by initiative in Massachusetts in 1994 but in 1997 was struck down by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that it was an unconstitutional attempt to provide additional qualifications for office by statute, rather than constitutional amendment.
The legislature is a full-time legislature, although not to the extent of neighboring New York or some other states.
Contents
History
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The earliest history of the General Court is in the original charter of 1629. Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, was a royally chartered joint stock company founded in 1628 in London. Much like other joint-stock companies of the time the first General Court was a meeting of shareholders, known as freemen. The "Great and General Court" was to meet in London and elect its officers and members in the same manner as other colonial charted companies of the time, such as the Virginia Company and the East India Company. The freemen would meet annually to elect representatives in the form of a Royal Governor, a Deputy Governor, and a Council made up of the directors of the company. These officials were to have royally assented governmental powers in and over the colony, and were tasked with the management and defense of the colonial plantation. The first Court assembled would be made up of such members, who could evaluate the situation of the colony, discuss its needs, and thus, with local knowledge and derivative (royally sourced) rulemaking power, manage it.
The first meeting of the original General Court took place in London in 1629. The General Court selected John Endicott as its representative to the colony. Soon after, Governor John Winthrop and the Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley broke with protocol when they themselves traveled to New England and moved the government to Massachusetts Bay. Along with them came the stock holders of the company and the Council of Assistants.
Once in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the new government reorganized itself out of convenience. Instead of attempting to assemble all stockholders to the meeting of the General Court the government decided on having each town elect two representatives to send in their stead. The General Court became a de facto bicameral legislature by virtue of the distinction between delegates elected by towns and the Council of Assistants. The assistants acted as magistrates and counselors of jurisprudence, however when in session they served as a sort of upper house. Their assent and approval was needed in order for any decision from the house of delegates to be passed. The new legislature was elected annually.
Suffrage was allowed only for men who were Puritan church members and freemen. This General Court removed any feudal restraints on the population and codified a Bill of Rights and powers of a judiciary. The General Court also enshrined the Laws of Moses as legal code under the discretion of local magistrates creating a theocratic quasi-democratic state.
Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England
There was disruption when London created a viceroyalty for a group of colonies including Massachusetts in 1686, the Dominion of New England. With the collapse of the Dominion at the time of the Glorious Revolution in 1689, The Assistants convened an assembly of delegates from each town to reform the General Court.
With the Massachusetts Charter in 1691 the Province of Massachusetts Bay absorbed the colony of Plymouth. The Plymouth Colony, along with the District of Maine and the islands off Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket were to be an extension of Massachusetts and thus under the authority of the General Court.
Under this new system the religious qualification, that suffrage be for only Puritan men, was changed to a qualification of property ownership. The Assistants were also officially changed to a Governor's Council to be selected by the governor to act as an upper house as well as a council for advice and consent. All laws passed by the General Court were to be approved by Royal Governor of the province. The powers of the monarch to be expanded in this new system as well. The King had full control of maritime affairs and acted as an executive, through the Royal Governor, to enforce commercial law.
This separation of powers led to some friction with the Royal Governor and the General Court. The General Court retained power over spending and budget and while the Royal Officers, in the form of the Governor, the Governor's Council, etc. had more executive authority the Court could cause political stalemate if its demands were not met. Even the Governor's reserve power to dissolve the General Court was ineffective because a new assembly had to be elected the following year.
With the passage of the Intolerable Acts by the Parliament of Great Britain there was political turmoil in the province. With political disorder Thomas Gage, then the Royal Governor, cancelled the new elections for the General Court and in 1774 the assembly was essentially dissolved. This allowed the governor to rule by decree and appoint town governments.
In defiance of both Crown law and Gage, members of the General Court formed the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and seized control of the colony except for Boston, where British troops maintained control until when they evacuated the city on March 17, 1776. The Governor's Council acted as the executive in the absence of the governor and lieutenant governor, administering the rebel forces of the colony during the early years of the American Revolutionary War, which began in Massachusetts at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The General Assembly declared Massachusetts independent from Britain on May 1, 1776. With the war still ongoing, demands for government reform resulted in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1778, but the text proposed by the legislature failed in a statewide voter referendum. The Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1779–1780 was held by a specially-elected body, and the resulting text, after amendment and ratification, became the current state constitution.
Later history
The current Massachusetts General Court has met as the legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since the adoption of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780. The body was in operation before Massachusetts became a U.S. state on February 6, 1788.
The first sessions, starting in 1780, were one-year elected sessions for both houses. This was expanded to two-year sessions starting with the 142nd General Court in January 1921. Thereafter, the legislative year was defined as: "The first legislative year starting with the opening of the biennial session and ends at midnight on Tuesday before the first Wednesday of the following year. The second legislative year starts on the first Wednesday of the second year and ends when the legislature prorogues or at midnight on Tuesday before the first Wednesday of the following year.
Watson F. Hammond, seated in 1885, was the first Native American to be elected to the body.
Florence Slocomb was one of the first three women in the Commonwealth to be elected to the state Legislature and the first woman from Worcester to win a state legislative seat, representing that district from 1926 to 1928.
Althea Garrison was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1992 and is known as the first transgender person to serve in a state legislature in the United States. She was outed against her will following the election and served one term.
As of 2018, the General Court was composed of 75 percent male and 25 percent female representation.
Chambers
Senate
There are 40 senatorial districts in Massachusetts, named for the counties in which they are located.
House of Representatives
There are 160 representational districts in Massachusetts, named for the counties in which they are located. The speaker of the House has historically been quite powerful, exerting significant influence over all aspects of state government.
Legislative procedure
The General Court is responsible for enacting laws in the state. The two legislative branches work concurrently on pending laws brought before them.
Lawmaking begins when legislators, or their delegates, file petitions accompanied by bills, resolves or other types of legislation electronically, using the Legislative Automated Workflow System (LAWS). The electronically submitted legislation is received in the House or Senate Clerk's office where the petitions, bills, and resolves are recorded in an electronic docket book. The clerks number the bills and assign them to appropriate joint committees. There are 26 of these committees, each responsible for studying the bills which pertain to specific policy areas, taxation, education, health care, insurance, and others. Each committee is composed of six senators and eleven representatives. The standing committees schedule public hearings for the individual bills, which afford citizens, legislators and lobbyists the opportunity to express their views. Committee members meet at a later time in executive session to review the public testimony and discuss the merits of each bill before making their recommendations to the full membership of the House or Senate. The public may still observe "executive" sessions, but may not participate in these meetings. The committee then issues its report, recommending that a bill "ought to pass" or "ought not to pass" and the report is submitted to the Clerk's office.
The first reading of a favorably reported bill is automatic and generally occurs when the committee's report appears in the Journal of the House or Senate. Matters not requiring reference to another Joint, House or Senate committee are, following the first reading, referred without debate to the Committee on Senate Rules if reported in the Senate, except certain special laws (relative to a city or town) are placed directly on the Senate Calendar (Orders of the Day), or, without debate to the House Steering, Policy and Scheduling committee if reported into the House. Reports from Senate Rules or House Steering, Policy and Scheduling are placed on the Calendar of the Chamber receiving the report for a second reading. If a bill reported favorably by a joint committee affects health care it is referred by the House or Senate Clerk to the joint committee on Health Care Financing; and the first reading is delayed until the next favorable report, thus allowing Health Care Financing to report to either the House or Senate. The Health Care Financing Committee is required to provide an estimated cost of the bill, when making their report. If the estimated cost is less than $100,000, the bill bypasses having to be referred to Ways and Means. If a bill is not related to health care, but affects the finances of the Commonwealth, or, if it is reported by the Health Care Financing Committee with an estimated cost greater than $100,000, it is referred to the Senate or House Committee on Ways and Means after the first reading. Adverse reports ("ought not to pass") are also referred to the Committee on Steering and Policy in the Senate or placed without debate in the Orders of the Day for the next session of the House. Acceptance by either branch of an adverse report is considered the final rejection and the end of the matter. However, an adverse report can be overturned. A member may move to substitute the bill for the report, and, if the motion to substitute carries, the matter is then given its first reading and follows the same procedure as if reported favorably by committee.
State House News Service
The State House News Service is an independent privately owned wire service based in the Massachusetts State House that provides comprehensive coverage of the Commonwealth's government. It is the only news organization with floor privileges and a desk in both the House and Senate chambers.